WWF protests Siberian Tiger incarceration in Pakistan

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8175168.stm

Tiger row embarrasses Pakistan politician

 

(AFP) – 2 days ago

 

ISLAMABAD — The family of Pakistan's main opposition leader has come under

fire for importing a Siberian tiger and housing the animal expensively at a

private zoo in the middle of a sizzling summer.

 

A nephew of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and son of the popular chief

minister of Punjab province Shahbaz Sharif imported the tiger last month

after obtaining a special permit.

 

The tiger was housed in a special enclosure on the Sharif family farm in

Punjab. The cost of the air-conditioning triggered a media uproar because

few Pakistanis can afford such luxuries.

 

Sulieman Sharif shipped the animal from Canada after getting the necessary

permits despite a ban on the private import of large cats, officials said.

 

The media criticised the move, saying that the compound would use the local

electricity supply at a time of power shortages, and the family made

arrangements for its relocation.

 

" Shahbaz was rightly displeased with his son for his disregard of

international laws and... for purchasing and importing (a) highly priced and

endangered wild animal, " the influential Dawn newspaper said.

 

Sulieman's private secretary Sikandar Pasha said the family decided to give

the animal to the government of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), where

temperatures in the mountains are significantly cooler.

 

Pasha denied the tiger was being removed because of criticism over the

reported air-conditioning facilities when people were facing severe power

shortages.

 

" There was no public pressure, " he told AFP. " It is the Sharif family's own

decision to gift it to the NWFP government. They are making arrangements to

receive it. "

 

The Pakistan branch of the WWF said the Sharifs were expected to send the

tiger to a holding centre at a national park, away from battle grounds with

the Taliban.

 

" WWF really welcomes this decision, " conservation manager Uzma Khan told

AFP. " Big cats should not be kept in private facilities, " she added.

 

Punjab government spokesman Pervez Rasheed defended the importing of the

tiger.

 

" This tiger was imported by Suleiman in his personal capacity because he

likes animals, " Rasheed told AFP.

 

" He fulfilled all the international obligations regarding the import and

fulfilled the requirements under local laws.

 

" But it was difficult to maintain this in the available environment so he

decided it was better to send it to a natural environment. "

AFP. All rights reserved.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8175168.stm Sharif tiger sparks

Pakistan row

Siberian tigers are not naturally suited to Pakistan's hot and humid

summers

 

By Syed Shoaib Hasan

BBC News, Islamabad

 

*The family of Pakistan's main opposition leader says it has handed over a

tiger obtained in contravention of local laws to the government.*

 

The Siberian tiger was imported by Sulieman Sharif, nephew of former PM

Nawaz Sharif and son of Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minster of Punjab

province.

 

News of the imported tiger led to an outcry because it was to be kept in its

own air-conditioned compound.

 

Pakistanis are currently enduring sweltering heat amid severe power cuts.

 

*Cooled compound*

 

Sulieman Sharif obtained the tiger from Canada on 23 July despite a ban on

the private import of large cats into Pakistan since February 2009.

 

The tiger was set to be housed in an electrically-cooled compound on the

family estate of Raiwind, a few kilometres outside Lahore, the Punjab

capital.

 

But a huge hue and cry was raised by the press and public after it emerged

the compound would run on local electricity.

 

Pakistan's nationwide power shortages are so severe that daily outages last

10-12 hours.

 

Subsequently, Shahbaz Sharif is said to have ordered the tiger to be taken

away immediately.

 

The World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Pakistan chapter says the Sharifs have now

agreed they should no longer keep the tiger.

 

" We understand it has now been handed over to the North West Frontier

Province (NWFP) government, " Ali Hassan Habib of the WWF told the BBC.

 

It is not clear why NWFP has been chosen, but one possibility is that it is

cooler there than in Punjab.

 

" After the matter came into the press, the Sharifs approached us themselves

for help, " Mr Habib said.

 

" We don't have the facilities here to keep the animal, but we willing to

help relocate him elsewhere. The question does arise as to how the tiger got

in, as the environment ministry had recently banned its import. "

 

It is expected the tiger will either be housed in a public zoo in Pakistan,

or relocated abroad.